Documentary: The Longing of Michael Dudok de Wit

A portrait of the acclaimed Dutch animator and director Michael Dudok de Wit (“Father and Daughter”, Oscar-winning short film 2001). His debut feature “La Tortue rouge” made its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2016 and won the special jury prize in the section Un Certain Regard. Studio Ghibli, Japan’s legendary anime company, invited Dudok de Wit to make his first animated feature; their first-ever international co-production. Maarten Schmidt and Thomas Doebele followed Michael and his team for more than two years, during the complex creative process of making this film. Dudok de Wit is a perfectionist and always used to create his hand-drawn animated films himself. For this new feature, he was assisted by a team of 20 to 30 animators from all over Europe. Dudok de Wit was faced with a huge challenge: he not only had to retain his personal perfectionism, but also involve his entire team in implementing his ingenious approach to colour, light and shadow communly. In the course of the documentary Dudok de Wit’s tremendous drive to make “La Tortue rouge” is revealed, and gradually it becomes clear why it is so important for him to tell this particular story.